Never judge a book by its cover

If you've not already heard Susan Boyle (make sure your speakers are turned up for this), you're missing one of the biggest surprises of the year. Boyle surprised the judges on the British version of American Idol by proving that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Decidedly homely, she has a voice that will bring you to tears.

Similarly, I was poking around the other day when I noticed that someone had been directed to my blog from an article about town meeting. I don't know who the "goat" is, but he (she? We'll just use "he" in a gender-neutral fashion, much the way "selectman" is used) has an edgy blog dedicated to the 02536 zip code, appropriately named go2536.com.

As with Ms. Boyle, too many people have preconceived notions of East Falmouth. Early last year, when discussions about Webster Woods started to get heated, local papers were quoting folks about the divisions in our town and the perception that East Falmouth is a ghetto. When campaigning door to door, I found myself talking to people (outside of the 02536 zip code) who also expressed these opinions.

Together, go2536.com and the FalmouthLocal present a certain degree of irony, since conventional wisdom suggests that Internet sites would be more likely to come from more affluent or educated parts of town.

There's some good prose inside this dusty old cover...